NHL Playoff Observations -- Stanley Cup Final: No Sweep

So, the Kings get to lift the Cup on home ice. Isn't that sweet. Then again, the Rangers could have been lifting the silver chalice tonight. They've played well, but have almost nothing to show for it.

How many times can a puck stop on the goal line if a puck could stop on a goal line? Now I understand why my beer league goalie is always scraping the crease and piling the snow along the goal line and in a pile at each post ...

NHL Playoff Observations -- Stanley Cup Final Game 2

Justin Williams for Conn Smythe? It's really not a stretch any more. Anze Kopitar should get it, but he who gets quiet in the Final often gets the shaft.

When is goalie interference not goalie interference? We shouldn't be surprised, though -- wasn't it the ref at center ice that made the interference call when Henrik Lundqvist got elbowed in the head in the trapezoid? Maybe things look bigger -- and more obvious -- from far away.

Lance & LeBron

Nice home victory by the Pacers last night to get back in the series. It's now 3-2, as you probably know, with the series returning to Miami. Lance Stephenson continued the trash talk and tight D on LeBron James. But did he take things to far? See below. I think it's cute...

NHL Playoff Observations -- Eastern Conference Game 1

Do you think the Habs regret that Ryan McDonagh trade? Where are Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt and Michael Busto any way?

Saturday night is for hockey. Saturday afternoon is for mountain biking, at least in my world. NBC ratings have sucked for years -- why does the league sacrifice -- or should I say, take for granted -- Canadian audiences? Ugh.

NHL Playoff Observations -- Round Two, Monday

Speed kills ... at least it does at home. It's clearly the Bruins' kryptonite. Now if only Montreal could figure out how to bring that game to Boston.

I guess King Henrik Lunqvist didn't want to be outdone by a fourth-liner in Boston. Or maybe he thought the electrolyte mix in his bottle would be like salt in the wounds of Sidney Crosby. That little squirt was expensive.

NHL Playoff Observations -- Round 2 Saturday

So ... you land here from outer space and you've never seen hockey. You've dropped into New York and you're watching the Rangers. Is it fair that you think Mats Zuccarello is a much better player than Rick Nash?

NHL Playoff Observations -- Round Two, Games 1

Don't blame the Bruins -- or their real fans -- for the vitriolic and racist tweets of cowardly, boneheaded trolls who haven't got enough self-respect to live somewhere other than their mother's basement. P.K. Subban is having a brilliant postseason. Real Bruins fan respect that. And they'd want him in black and gold if he came on the market.

NHL Playoff Observations -- Round One Ends

How does Patrick Roy spell deja vu? Minnesota Wild. The last game he played was a Game 7 loss to the hands of the Wild. In overtime. And now his first playoff series as a coach ends the same bloody way.

Will there be an NHL Black Thursday, just like Black Monday in the NFL? Better yet -- should there be?

Billy Hamilton went for $28 in the NL LABR auction this past weekend. I discussed this with a fellow writer who participates in Tout Wars with me later this month and we discussed the problem with investing heavily into Hamilton.